In the Kingdom of the Sun
by Quickleaf1990
Summary: Eugene leaves for reasons unknown to Rapunzel, but he returns, and tells her of his adventure and reasons behind it. Hope the story is better than the summary,
1. Chapter 1

Alright, so, this story is all about Catharsis. I'm not sure what it is about Tangled but I've suddenly found myself unyieldingly obsessed. Hopefully you'll like this story as much as I've liked writing it. Please no Flames, but everything else is happily accepted. No Copywright infringment meant.

Ohh, and also, anyone who enjoys how this story is written should check out "The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden." that's what inspired me (See "I totally stole the style from there directly,)

The Tale of the Princess and the Thief

Rapunzel looked from the castle's highest tower out over the sea. She could see the waves crashing along the shores of the island of Corona, where her father and mother ruled a vast, and peaceful kingdom.

A year ago she never even knew of the ocean. A mighty beast so large it could swallow armies whole and not notice, a great frothing cauldron in which the world brewed it's mighty potions like a witch over her fire. To her it was a perfect paradox, water that made you thirsty, motionless to the eye but always moving, sometimes bringing...and sometimes taking away.

It was to the sea she lost Eugene exactly a year and one day ago. His justification not more than a smile, and the admonition that he must go, her memory was as clear as yesterday...

"Eugene!" Rapunzel screamed, her voice cutting through the air like a scythe.

Her dashing rogue turned his head, his hair wafting in that way only his can, strong stride faltering mid-step to a stop. She had been tempted to stand and simply leave this moment as it was, keeping him trapped in time for ever

"What is it, Blondie? Didn't you get my letter?" He asked

Her hands squeezed the paper into a crinkled mess, "Of course I got it! How could I not, and you expect me to just accept it?" She flung the cursed scribble away from her, "What do you mean you're leaving me?"

He sighed, turning, and slowly dropping his travel satchel, which once held the very crown not perched on her head at a slightly drunken angle, jammed on in a panicked haste. His voice floated to her along a gilded breeze, or so she thought to herself even in her rage, "Blondie...I can't stay. Something has happened, and I must attend to it. For the good of the Kingdom." He smiled at her, it was infuriating.

"How could you leave with just that?" She asked, her eyes growing hazy with tears she refused to let fall, "I...I thought we were meant to be together for all eternity. You promised me, we were one another's new dream. You can't just throw away all we have, all we've lived through on a...a _whim_!" Her voice strained on the last word, spitting it at Eugene as though it were a dart coated in poison.

With no warning, his arms were around her. She wasn't aware of his travel between one point and the next, as she found herself standing limp in his embrace. The dam of her eyelids could no longer hold back the torrent. She sobbed unashamedly into his tunic, prompting him to hold her just slightly closer.

"Blondie...Rapunzel...if I had the choice, I would never leave your side. We would be inseperable, you the sun, and I the moon, dancing our lover's dance for eternity. Alas, this trip I must take, this journey must be made for the kingdom...and for you."

She placed her hands on his chest, pushing him back, as the mettle crept once again into her spine, "Then you will take me with you. As the Princess I command you. If this journey of your is really for the good of the Kingdom then I will go as well to ensure your success."

At this Eugene smiled. He had been expecting a response like this, and so he held her back just slightly, "Rapunzel, the kingdom only just regained it's Princess. For her to leave again would crush the people, and your parents. Let me do this for you...you've always saved me, let me now be your champion."

Rapunzel's face washes out with emotion, her mind is embattled. Eugene is strong, and wise, far wiser than she, he would know the right course wouldn't he? Or perhaps he was simply conspiring to leave her alone again. She began seeing scenes of the future, all of the ones she could think possible, laping over one another, screaming for her attention louder and louder until her head felt like it would burst with it. Her hands flew to her ears, blocking out the torrent of doubt, "No! You can't leave! If you leave me, I'll have you flogged when you get back! Hung, thrown from a window, and then the Snuggly Duckling thugs can have you..." Her voice slowly loses force as her threats are shown for their hollow selves.

Eugene's smile only widens at her display, he wipes the tears from her cheeks gently. "Well...if you're going to have all these things done, I should make a point to come back quickly, it does not do to leave a princess waiting on her revenge." He leans down, and takes her lips in his own, melting her resolve like so much ice. He feels like a pillar of strength against her slight form, her arms strong from years of bringing Gothel into her tower now weakened only slightly from a month of palace life.

And then like a wraith he was gone. A swish of the cloak, and the mists of the early morning city swallowed him with naught but a swirl. As she climbed to her room, distraught, and weary she cresting sun showed her a glimpse of light from the ocean. It caught her eye, showing her Eugene's little schooner riding the waves out into that endless ocean...

Now every night she holds vigil for her Eugene to return, her bedroom moved to this highest tower. From the window, rolling down the side of the glorious castle, she has hung a cloth of golden silk. The length and color not so unlike those of her own once golden tresses, tempting Eugene to return and climb once again, and take her for his own once more.

A year had changed her much. Her form once gangly with youth had filled perfectly, she was a woman truly now, though never having known any man's lustful touch. She had learned much as well, her head once full of thoughts of the outside world, and precious little else now also filled with books, politics, and wisdom. She had learned as much as she could in order to impress Eugene when he returned. She wanted to be able to show him as he stood once more in her arms that she was worthy of him, and it was today, one year and one day from his leaving that she once more spotted a glimpse of light in the rising sun.

At first she disregarded it thinking the flash nothing more than a wave catching the sun, before dashing itself 'pon the rocky shoals casting salt into the winds. As she turned her head, however, the flash returned chasing her gaze. Her green eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, as her whole body whirled toward the window once more, seeing now what her eyes missed before. A small white sail with a frying pan cut it's way through the waves, only Eugene would do such a thing, she lept for joy, her heart beating from it's housing.

As Rapunzel's door flung open she touted her joy at the top of her lungs, waking the whole house with her cries. She ran through the halls, skipping with joy, waking the maids, and mutts alike. One or two curiously worried faces peeked from behind it's door, to be met with a call of, "He's home! My Eugene has braved the sea and returned to me!"

The maids, and cooks, and clothiers, and bakers, and candlestick makers, the butchers, the bards, the gardeners, and stableboys all followed her to the chambers of the King and Queen singing a joyous song for the return of the man who was once Corona's most notorious thief.

As the door of the King opened his face was split with a radiant smile. His little girl hadn't been so happy in this long year, and it lifted his very soul. The Queen however was guarded. She knew her daughter longed for this man to return to her, and shower her in kisses, stroke her cheek with the tenderness of a feather, and the Queen feared this ship might be that of another, or worse be empty of living occupant. She couldn't however hold these thoughts close as Rapunzel's heart filled the room, and her sheer optimism pushed away all doubt

An hour later, the Royal Family, their servants, and most of the town was clambored to the docks awaiting the arrival of the ship. As the schooner pulled alongside the dock, and unfamiliar man jumped off, and tied the mooring lines...

AN: Alright, so, this is my first fic in a long long time, I hope it's not too illegible. How'd I do with Rapunzel? I went with the idea that she'd had a few weeks to adjust to the idea of power, mostly pulled from the little montage at the end of the movie where Flynn steals her crown and she gives him the, "Give that back you little sneak" face. REVIEW!

Also, man this looks way different in the editor than it does on Wordpad...weirdness.


	2. Chapter 2

Okay...so...my last chapter was something of a frenzy of writing that occured when I simply couldn't hold back anymore, and so I'm looking at it rather like a pile of word barf..., Once I get a little farther along I'll try to update and polish, but for now I'm just gonna chug along and hope for the best.

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><p>The Tale of the Princess and the Thief cont.<p>

To call the man on the boat "unfamiliar" is a little bit of an exaggeration, his body is similar to Rapunzel's memory. He's still tall, and dashing, but his skin has taken on a slightly bronzed tone from sailing on the sea in this little skiff. His hair still wafts, though this only accentuates the silver streak which now accentuates the brown. The only part of him totally unchanged are his eyes, his loving caring eyes.

As he disembarks, the crowd is agape. He unashamedly walks to Rapunzel, and embraces her, his arms tightened from working the rigging, and pulling the wheel feel perfectly right around her slight form. She stifles a little sob as she wraps her arms around him in return. All at once the crowd cries out in joy, exalting not the return of Flynn Rider but the return of Eugene Fitzherbert, the consort of their beloved Princess. Rapunzel can't help but notice his skin smells of brine and wind. He smells exotic, and free, and she love every second of it.

Eugene grins as he pulls away from Rapunzel, and tries to speak before realizing it's utterly impossible in the din. He bows to the King and Queen, who nod, and wave for Rapunzel and he to follow them. They pile into a carriage, and begin trundling up towards the palace in companionable silence. Eugene and Rapunzel's hand are clasped together, while the King and Queen talk to him animatedly about the various doings of the kingdom.

As the four of them piles into the King's private study, Rapunzel bursts forth with hardly contained words, ""Oh my god you're back I've missed you so much you have to tell me everything where did you go what did you do did you finish the job you set out to do?"

Eugene chuckles as he sits down in a chair, opening his arms to Rapunzel, offering her his lap which she flies into with the enthusiasm of a child, "It's good to see you too, Blondie..." He smiles, "I missed most of what you just strung together there...but I caught enough I think." He runs his calloused fingers through her hair, and leans back in his chair, the King and Queen sitting across from him by the fire, "My journey was long...and our time is rather short..." Rapunzel looks confused, and opens her mouth to speak even as Eugene lays his hand over her lips to silence her, "...worry not darling...time might be short, but it's enough to tell all...and it begins in a shop in town...

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><p>Okay, so I know the chapter was short, most will be but hopefully the update speed will be fairly high.<p> 


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